Grand opening of the hydrogen filling station in Metzingen

Nationwide infrastructure development makes further progress: 22 public hydrogen filling stations are already in operation, 8 of them in Baden-Württemberg

Co-funding by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) as part of its National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP)

Berlin/Metzingen, 26 September 2016 – Hydrogen-powered vehicles can now refill their tanks at the OMV service station in Metzingen. The opening of the new filling station continues the longstanding cooperation between the industry partners Daimler, Linde and OMV Deutschland as part of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP), and marks another step towards a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure.

The new hydrogen station is located at Auchtertstraße 19 in Metzingen. The official inauguration was attended by the representatives of the companies involved, as well as by Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and Ministerial Director Helmfried Meinel of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Energy.

Norbert Barthle said: "Clean mobility, rapid refuelling and long ranges are the advantages offered by fuel cell-based electric mobility. To help get the vehicles on the streets now, the Federal Ministry of Transport is sponsoring the establishment of 50 hydrogen filling stations across Germany with about 28 million euros. The Metzingen site is one of these stations, and will improve hydrogen supply in the Stuttgart metropolitan region.”

At the market launch of the innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technology, the focus of the infrastructure build-up is especially on the supply of metropolitan regions. The existing service stations already cover the Berlin, Hamburg, Rhine/Ruhr, Stuttgart and Munich metropolitan areas. The process of connecting them has already begun, and the network will be continuously expanded. Within the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP), Daimler and Linde are contributing with a total investment volume of around EUR 20 million. The construction of the first public hydrogen filling station in Baden-Württemberg at Stuttgart airport in 2009 was also a cooperation between OMV, Daimler and Linde. The federal state now has eight such refuelling sites.

Helmfried Meinel emphasized: "Hydrogen- and fuel cell-based technology opens up great opportunities for protecting the environment and the climate, and is an important element in ensuring the success of the transition to renewables. I firmly believe that hydrogen is the storage medium of the future, across multiple sectors.”

Electric mobility with fuel cell vehicles can help to considerably reduce transport-related CO2 emissions. The technology of such locally emission-free vehicles offers two major advantages compared to battery-powered vehicles: long ranges and short refuelling times. The infrastructure build-up is timed to coincide with the planned market ramp-up of fuel cell vehicles from various manufacturers. The technology is an integral part of Daimler’s drive system strategy. Vehicles like the B-Class F-CELL and the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid urban bus have covered altogether more than twelve million kilometres to date, proving the market readiness of this power-train. From 2017, a new generation of vehicles based on the Mercedes-Benz GLC will be launched: for the first time, a lithium-ion battery plug-in will be used in a fuel cell-powered electric vehicle as an additional source of energy.

Linde has many years of expertise across the entire hydrogen value chain, and has developed several proprietary compression technologies. In Vienna, the company operates the world's first small-series production line for hydrogen filling stations. The Metzingen site uses a compact, 700-bar refuelling technology that is also ideally suited for retrofitting existing, conventional stations. Linde uses its IC90 ionic compressor, which combines advantages in energy efficiency, maintenance, footprint and noise emissions. Together with partner companies, Linde is also opening up new paths in sustainable hydrogen production using renewable energy.

The Linde Group

In the 2015 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 17.944 bn, making it one of the leading gases and engineering companies in the world, with approximately 65,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services divisions, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today. The company focuses on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior cars that appeal and fascinate. Daimler systematically invests in the development of alternative drive systems – up to purely electric vehicles with battery or fuel cell hybrid vehicles - with the goal of making emission-free driving possible in the long term. Moreover, the company vigorously promotes accident-free driving and an intelligent network, through to autonomous driving, because Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibilities towards society and the environment.
Further information about Daimler is available online at:

OMV Deutschland GmbH is an important supplier of petroleum products in southern Germany. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of OMV Group, an integrated, international oil and gas company based in Vienna, Austria. Activities include the refinery, B2B and service station business. OMV Deutschland currently operates a network of around 300 service stations, more than 220 of them in Bavaria. This corresponds to a market share of nearly 10%. Other stations are located in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. www.omv.de

CEP

The Clean Energy Partnership – an alliance of twenty leading companies – has set itself the goal of establishing hydrogen as the ‘fuel of the future’. With Air Liquide, BMW, Bohlen & Doyen, Daimler, EnBW, Ford, GM/Opel, H2 Mobility, Hamburger Hochbahn, Honda, Hyundai, Linde, OMV, Shell, Siemens, Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen SSB, Total, Toyota, Volkswagen and Westfalen as its partners, the ground-breaking future project includes technology, oil and utility companies as well as most German car manufacturers and two leading public transport companies. Germany’s National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) has sponsored the CEP since 2008. www.cleanenergypartnership.de

NOW

NOW GmbH (National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology) was founded in 2008 by the Federal Government, represented by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. NOW coordinates and manages two federal development programmes — the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) as well as the BMVI’s Electromobility Model Regions. Both programmes serve to prepare the market for ensuring efficient, eco-friendly mobility and energy supply in the future. Funding is focused on research and development as well as demonstration projects.
www.now-gmbh.de